Africville is Canada’s most famous black settlement, representing both the initial attempts by free blacks at creating a regular society and Canada’s attitudes toward non-white settlers before the entrenchment of Multiculturalism.
Origins
Nova Scotia was at one time a “slave society” Although lack of agricultural potential in the uneven an rocky terrain of Nova Scotia prevented slavery from developing on a plantation scale, the number of slaves in Nova Scotia was substantial.
Free Loyalist Blacks Most of the blacks migrating to Nova Scotia after the American Revolution were free, for the most part having been freed by the British as an inducement to encourage them to leave their revolutionary masters. Free Blacks were promised equal treatment with their white peers, but promises were not fulfilled. In order to survive, a number of blacks were forced to sell themselves or their children into slavery or long-term indenture. In 1792 an agent of the Sierra Leone Company recruited blacks in the province to migrate to Africa. Additional migrations took place, in 1800 to Sierra Leone and in 1821 to Trinidad
Refugee Blacks Following the War of 1812, Nova Scotia became home to Black refugees. Several hundred Blacks had sought protection with the British during the war after the commander of the British fleet issued a proclamation which said that all British subjects who came to a British ship or a British military post would be granted free transportation to another British possession in North America or the West Indies. There they were to be treated as free settlers. In this way between 2000 and 3000 blacks streamed into the province by 1815.
-Brown, Angela. “Africville: Urban Removal in Canada”. December 1996.
Life in Africville
The church was always a focal part of the settlement. In 1885, the Baptist church changed its name from Campbell Road to Africville, and later to the Seaview African United Baptist Church. Social life revolved around the church and the Sunrise Service on Easter Sunday in particular was known to continue from 5:00 AM until at least 3:00 PM.
Land in Africville was not suitable for farming, but some people kept pigs and grew vegetables. People were generally not financially prosperous due to scarce jobs and societal racism. The population remained small as many residents moved in an attempt to better their position.
Although the residents of Africville paid taxes, the city of Halifax did not provide basic services such as running water, sewage, or paved roads. Still, the community survived with its own school, church, and post office. For generations, children had a place to play, families were close-knit, and there was music.
-Multicultural Trails of Nova Scotia - “Africvilleâ€
The Dismantling
Due to an informal system of handing down properties and housing within families and between in–laws over the years, many residents were unable to prove legal title to their land; thus, they had little recourse when faced wi th the proposition to sell or be evicted due to historical, social, and economic conditions, residents had no formal community leadership that would be seen as legitimate political representation and little access to legal and bureaucratic bargaining tools of the municipality. Most were forced to accept the city’s small compensation, or settle for low prices offered for homes they had not been permitted to maintain and improve, located in what was defined as “the slum by the garbage dump.†In a seeming mockery, when moving companies refused to be hired, city garbage trucks, which had never serviced Africvlle, were sent to carry away the residents belongings.
-Alternative Canadian Heritage Moments – “Africvilleâ€
Aftermath
When dump trucks roared in to ship Africville residents out, it seemed like a good idea. By the 1960s, years of neglect and racism had made Halifax’s oldest and largest black neighbourhood one of the worst slums in the country. But the relocation of Africville also meant the end of a vibrant community. As one former resident put it, they lost more than a roof over their heads, they lost their happiness.
-CBC Archives: “Africville: Expropriating Nova Scotia’s Blacksâ€
1) Thanks our reader “B” for providing this research
2) There are a few spelling and grammatical errors in the excerpts. I chose to leave them “as is” since they’re essentially quotes.
Also to Emilia … good question. I will have to look it up.
I enjoyed the account regarding how they established their church and music as the centre of their existence when they had little else to hang onto. Very similar circumstances existed for the first Irish immigrants to northeastern U.S. The Christian church held that crowd together, too. In other words, whose doubting faith in their God, WAS THE ONLY THING THAT SUSTAINED these groups when expressed hatreds by the establishment was all they faced.
The Easter sunrise service was the highlight in the article proving where the community’s focus and main dedication lay.
With genocides raging now in the heart of Africa, complicated by the east/west race for the continent’s vast resources and wealth, all decendants in N. America should be aspiring to speak up in one voice for their great foundations.
Africa’s ‘day in the sun’ is coming for its citizens and progeny across the world. Because it has been so delayed, it will shine all that much brighter.
I highly recommend a remarkable work entitled, “RESCUE JERUSALEM, The ALLIANCE between Hebrews and AFRICANS in 701 B.C.” by Henry T. Aubin.
It recounts how in the above mentioned year, the esteemed Ethiopians virtually rescued the Hebrews from complete annihilation at the hands of the Babylonians. The Ethiopians represented two episodes in the Pharoic dynasties of Egypt — either the 23rd or 24th dynasties. The author’s wife, a noted archeologist, provides supporting documentation regarding the interplay of the entire region. If not for the Ethiopian intervention the Hebrews and their descendants would today be a footnote in history. Once you pick up the book, you can’t put it down. A must read on any Afric-centric curriculum.